Following from Wells Fargo's 2,000,000-account fraud against its own customers — part of a decade-old pattern — the state of California has imposed sanctions on the bank, freezing it out of bond issues, brokerage business, and suspending all investment in Wells Fargo-issued securities.
That's going to hit the shareholders where they live — California issues more bonds than any other state, $50B this year so far, and the state treasurer has $75B under management, and does $2T worth of banking per year. State treasurer John Chiang said, "How can I continue to entrust the public’s money to an organization which has shown such little regard for the legions of Californians who have placed their financial well-being in its care?"
Good question! Another good question: why would you start entrusting the public's money to these people after a 12-month timeout, given that this isn't the first time they've committed high financial crimes and (seemingly) got away with it?
Treasurer John Chiang Sanctions Wells Fargo Bank for Defrauding California Customers
Calls for Overhaul of Banking Industry [California State Treasurer]
(via Dan Hon)
